CLASH OF THE TITANS - PROSPECTIVE CONFLICT BETWEEN CHINA AND THE US - FIGHT OF THE FUTURE

CLASH OF THE TITANS - PROSPECTIVE CONFLICT BETWEEN CHINA AND THE US - FIGHT OF THE FUTURE

With each passing year the People’s Republic of China is burgeoning at a massive speed. It’s growing economically, expanding militarily, graduating to higher and higher scales as a political entity and broadening it’s diplomatic influence in the community of nations. Indeed, it’s an unprecendent event in the human history - the most massive nation that has ever existed so far in human history (in terms of population) transforing itself into unimaginable heights (from current parameters), swiftly and steadily.

China is already number two economy in the world after USA, (in both the parameters - PPP GDP and Nominal GDP). Recently IMF shocked the world community by stating that China would overtake USA as the largest economy of the world much sooner than expected - year 2016 will be a watershed year in world history as it would commence the end of American age.

The rise of China and the downfall of USA, which seems imminent now, will have significant implications for the two global giants and for some other countries of the world.

THE RISE OF CONFUCIOUS

These are not just two countries, they represent very different cultures, social values and potentially conflictual civilizations. While USA may let the world beleive that it has an open society, free press, and all sorts of political and social freedoms is enshrined to the people, which is almost completely lacking in the so called communist republic of China ; China always has a counter argument, or an alternative socio-political ideology - China doesn’t beleive in democracy in the manner US beleives, it has it’s own version, where diligence, dutifulness, adherence to central authority and collectivism are of paramount importance.

Many Chinese scholars stress that China is for collectivist mindset, where individual freedom is not that important, as nation is above citizen, unlike the ‘selfish individualism of the west’. China has created for itself a unique identity, where political structure is by enlarge maoist communist, economy is liberal capitalist and the cultural basis of new China is embedded in the noble, socially constructive teachings of it’s greatest saint-philosopher Confucious. The role of army is another important factor in China’s internal political dynamics, which keeps the country ambitious, confident and aggressive.

The rise of China could be dangerous for many nations of the world, and possibly for world peace. Whatever claims it may make, but China is not a responsible democracy. Once it becomes the premier country of the world, it may dictate terms to USA. A world led by dictator China is not something which most of us would want willingly. USA, with all it’s drawbacks, was a sound democracy, answerable to civil society, press and people.

China is unlikely to see a disintegtration like the erstwhile USSR anytime in the future. This is because it’s political structure more resembles unitarist Asian type unlike the former USSR’s federalist European type. Only a democratic revolution can contain China’s negative forces.

We also need the rise of other powers in future to have a multilateral world. Mutilateral world like multiparty democracy is always better, as often the great blocs/powers keep on neutralising each other. Thus European Union and India are the two countries/blocs which need to rise up in order to make a better and balanced world.

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SOCIAL TRANSITION IN UP AND BIHAR

SOCIAL TRANSITION IN UP AND BIHAR

From brahminical strongholds to bastions of aggressive social justice to more egalatarian places with rapid economic development, the transition of UP and Bihar from feudalism to vibrancy marks a successful phase of social evolution, where India and the spirit of humanity are the ultimate victors.

It is said, the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in several respects represent the heart of India. The birthplaces of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna,the cradle of Jainism and Buddhism, and the cultural and political heartland of Indian subcontinent for hundreds of years, this historical advantage of the region continues to influence India’s destiny, so much so that for a long time it was beleived that no political party can capture Delhi, without conquering the politically crucial Lucknow (i.e. Uttar Pradesh).

Being the centre of religion and culture had also made UP and Bihar the stronghold of orthodoxy and conservatism. So much so that the polity and social milieu of UP and to a great extent Bihar remained for a very long time in the hands of Savarnas (A term which refers to the upper castes collectively, which are Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Kayasthas and Vaishyas). But things began to change after the emergency phase. With the rise of backward caste politics, there was more assertivesness by these castes, which was the beginning of the end of upper caste predominance.

However the major turning point was the implementation of Mandal commission report by the V.P. Singh government in 1990. It created a virtual social furore. Upper castes strongly resented this provision of 27% reservation for Other Backward Castes in government jobs and educational institutes (which was in addition to the already existing 22.5% reservation for scheduled castes and tribes). This created a temporary social schism - a mutual ill feeling between the upper castes and backward castes. Castesim became rampant. Since OBCs and dalits had the numbers, it obviously meant their clout increased substantially.

Thus we had the rise of strongly pro-OBC and pro-dalit Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar and the coming of Lohiyaite and pro-backward Mulayam Singh Yadav in UP, who was followed by strongly anti-upper caste Mayawati, who still rules the state. Their rule changed completely the social dynamics of these two states. Dalits and OBCs were completely empowered and for the first time they felt strong and not shy and ashamed.

But since backwards (the poor castes) got so much power for the first time, the result was rampant corruption and deterioration of public ethics. It was a natural fallout of social evolution. However, it is clear from the example of Bihar that this too was just a passing phase. The landslide victory of the progressive, development minded, non-casteist leader Nitish Kumar in 2005 elections and then again in 2010, clearly sums up this trend.

It is quite clear that UP too is following this pattern. The popularity of Mayawati is waning, and Congress is gaining ground there. Congress will prove to be much better than BSP, SP or BJP since it does not confine itself to the narrow caste and communal agendas and has, at the state level, the likes of Salman Khursheed and others - dynamic leaders, who can put the state back on the development path. State voters are showing exhaustation with caste and communal politics, suggest latest trends.

This transition of these states from strong and orthodox brahminism to the age of Mandal was a need. Without correcting imbalanced social dynamics, the phase of egalatarian economic growth would not have been possible. The fight and rise of UP and Bihar is a good sign for India.

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ANNA HAZARE - THE PROMISED MESSIAH IN THE GOSPEL OF DEMOCRACY

ANNA HAZARE - THE PROMISED MESSIAH IN THE GOSPEL OF DEMOCRACY

There is revolution in the air. The entire nation is currently focussed on Anna Hazare and his movement. Government is in a fix. Everyone is wondering, how the things would unfold. With every passing day, the support for Anna is swelling. This government can afford to ignore this mass uprising only by subduing it’s credibilty and incurring people’s wrath.

India is a strange democracy. Here we have the best laws, largest number of lofty ideas and one of the soundest constitutions in the world, but by contradiction, we also have the worst forms of corruption, power hungry and opportunistic politicians and a system, which is rotten and highly inefficient. On one side, country is leaping economically like a tiger ; on the other public ethics and morality are nearing their lowest ebb.

Observing this country over the last 64 years - the deteriorating levels of corruption and inefficiency, the mess of India’s political system, the failing public institutions, the rise of muscle power, the growth of casteism and communalism, - it’s a virtual journey to the worldly hell. Terms like democracy, people’s will, constitutional morality and honesty in public life, have become a sad joke, butt of laughter. People have indeed lost faith in the system. They have been seeing it, and it is highly unlikely that things are going to change much anytime in the future.

System might have failed, but that doesn’t mean the entire process and procedure of democracy is a failure. People want change, deliverance on the constitutional goals and promises, but it is amply clear with the current methods it may take a very long time to happen. Thus we see the rise of alternative democracy, we have the great Gandhian Anna Hazare, who has made it the mission of his life not just to curb corruption but also to improve electoral process and safeguard the interests of the farmers through a strong legislation. We see this aggression for a better, cleaner India coming out on the roads. It is clear that the deliverance on citizens’ needs is the touchstone of a welfare state, which in turn, is the basis of sound democracy. Anna’s movement is fighting for that very purpose, and with vigour, but at the same time in a completely non-viloent, peaceful and constitutional manner.

India’s struggle for independence from the British clutches is one of the most glorious ones in the world history. Faught under leadership of Gandhi, with the potent weapons of non-violence and strong firmness, it shook the foundations of British dominion over India. Gandhi, the half naked fakir, commanded a strength over the minds of Indian people, which was unparalleled and unprecedented in the world. It is this legacy which Anna is invoking.

If Gandhi laid the foundations of a free and moral India, then Anna can actualise real freedom for the people of this country. The storm of Anna is hugely strong and totally apolitical. Unlike the emergency movement, it does not want to replace one corrupt government, with another government (which in all likelihood would turn corrupt as well) ; rather it wants to eliminate the evil itself, to strike at the root and make real and lasting changes.

Most religions of the world have their promised saviours. It is said in Bhagwad Gita - "Whenever and wherever there is decline in religious practices and a simultaneous rise in irreligion, to re-establish righteousness and restore order, I descend to earth in human form." Christian and Islamic faiths also have their promised rescuers of humanity in Jesus and Mohammad. If we treat democracy as the new social religion of national communities, then I think our promised messiah has come. Let us all support him in whichever way we can, so that we get what is our birthright.

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THE BATTLE FOR INDIA - A LONG TERM PERSPECTIVE

Indian National Congress (INC) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), the two major political parties of India represent the two varying ideological strains, which are somewhat mutually opposing and are currently at loggerheads with each other. So far Congress has dominated the Indian polity, but will that continue to happen in future, remains to be seen.

It is said that Congress is the natural party of Indians (and extendedly of Hindus), it has dominated and ruled the country for about 55 years out of the total 64 years of independence. Barring the exception of emergency period,when the experiment of Congress vs all the rest ultimately turned out to be a farce, a boisterous comedy ; and the equally unsuccessful happening of V.P. Singh led Janta Dal government in 1989, which hardly lasted for 10 months, only BJP in post independence India has been able to challenge the might of Congress. NDA led by BJP was first and so far the only non-Congress party/coalition to have completed it’s tenure of five years in office.

Things are more complicated than they look. Right now Congress is in power, since last 7 years, but the recent scandals/scams/massive corruption charges have already tarnished the image of the government and it is doubtful, whether in 2014 Lok sabha elections, Congress would be able to come back to power.

The social base of Congress and BJP differ significantly. While Congress, the left of centre party, is more popular with the poors, minorities, farmers, and people who are on the lower ladder of society ; on the contrary, BJP represents the nationalist upsurge, the need to connect back to the roots, arguably pro-hindu segment of Indian polity. It is strongly supported by the middle class, the traders, the upper castes, the rich and strong Hindus and Indians.

While common logic would imply that Congress is at an advantage, as it’s social base is very wide, and it has been true as well, as it has ruled for so many years. But things have changed over time. After the Ram Janma Boomi movement, BJP has already established itself as the obvious alternative to Congress in much of Northern and Wetern India. BJP is also gaining in South, as is evident from it’s resounding victory in Karnataka elections and in the East, it’s performance has significantly improved in Assam. So it is a growing and expanding party, still young and full of enthusiasm.

BJP is often said to be the party of the middle class, of youngsters, of urban dwellers, of educated people and people with strong nationalist sentiments. Well all of these segments would only grow in the future, so we can say by this straight logic, BJP should have a bright future. Moreover, with economic development and urbanisation as caste ceases to be a factor and Indians more and more see themselves as Indians supported by a glorious culture, they are more likely to be swayed by BJP.

Indian social reality is testimony to the truth that Hindu-Muslim issue has for long bothered Indians. We had the Afghan-Turkish (Muslim) invaion of India in the 11th century AD, the illtreatment of the majority community at the hands of muslim rulers for centuries, partition of the country on communal lines in 1947, and still it is being felt that Pakistan is disturbing India’s peace by terrorist attacks and also formenting communal trouble. Communal problem can never cease in India because of the unambiguous attitude of political Islam. No doubt, common Muslims are not to be blamed for this, but the practices of minority community leaders is bound to impact Hindu-Muslim relations and that will have long term implications.

BJP can never make India a Hindu Rashtra (Not even under VHP duress), as theocracy is alien to Indian religion and traditions. But certainly, India is likely to turn more towards right, as time goes and changes happen. Secularism could be redefined to include cultural glorification and strong stand against terrorism and minority communalism.

These things will necessiate the rise of the BJP, if Congress can, in the long term, take up this challenge and check this trend, only then it can continue to dominate Indian polity. What actually happens, only time will tell.

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THE BATTLE FOR INDIA - A LONG TERM PERSPECTIVE

THIS DANGEROUS WORLD AND THE VISION OF 'THE RIGHT MAN'

THIS DANGEROUS WORLD AND THE VISION OF 'THE RIGHT MAN'

Despite all the talks of godness of human nature and emphasis on maxims such as ‘Truth alone triumphs’, the fact of matter is that world is a very dangerous place, where simple, straight and different persons are always at risk of being taken for a ride and getting exploited.

Evil survives even the most lethal attack, it thrives and flourishes in this world, and has destroyed goodness and the lives and destinies of good people, time and again, since time immemorial and will continue this way for eternity. Indeed, it’s very tough to be good and much easier to be bad. And most of the people choose the softer option. Examples to prove this fact are umpteen.

Out of 196 countries in the world, there are only a handful which have a fair democratic-egalitarian form of government and where the economic affluence has reached a high level and thus certain types of ‘systematic oppression’ have been minimised. But even in these countries, income inequalities, serious anti-social crimes, racial hatred against the minoritites, complicated intra family problems due to deficit of personalised sense of sacrifice among the members and other types of problems abound, which impact the lives of millions of people negatively. But things are much worse in the third world and even middle income economies. To look at this from a micro level - we have the instances of young couples being brutally murdered for marrying "on their own"; a common, helpless, poor girl being raped and killed by goons and anti-social criminals even as helpless relatives, cry foul, and then are forced to move on with life due to ‘police inaction/inability’; a young man being stabbed to death because he protesed eve-teasing of his sister/relative/friend ; greedy parents-in laws burn to death the new bride as they didn’t get the dowry that ‘they wanted’ ; selfish and ill-charactered children (Son and daughter in law) ill treat their parents and force them into suicide or sub-human living ; complete subjugation and oppression of religious minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh ; murderous attacks by Hindu mobs on innocent muslims in Mumbai and Gujarat. These are some of the most glaring and major events of evil triumphing over good. But there are bad things happening at a much more subtle level.

Thus we have people passing exams using unfair means, corporates making profits by twisting the laws as per thier needs, numerous cases of adultery/sexual immorality and so on. And the most impacting fact is that people who are sincere, simple and ‘on the track’ are ridiculed socially. These things happen because, as said earlier, following the wrong path is always easier. Man’s psychology is easily attracted by the bad and the evil. This makes human sociology very complicated, puzzling and at times dampenining.

However the intelligent way to deal with these things is to understand them properly. It is evil which enrichens the world. It provides spice and flavour. Negativity has been created to serve positivity. The richness of experience entails the co-existence of the positive and negative. God’s world is only then beautified.

The right man follows the right approach. He is ever vigilant in society. He will never let himself get befooled. He is not unduly emotional. He knows to differentiate between good persons and bad persons. He treats them differntly. He is simple but never vulnerable, he is straightforward but not naive. He uses wrong means sometimes situationally as that is the practical necessity of life. He is balanced, and does not involve himself into brainless acts of ‘violence/fighting’, he is not inordinately proud. He is highly practical, goes deeper into things, and never follows straght line approach IN solving problems. Indeed, he sees world as a reflection of GOD, but one which is as coarse and bad as much it is good.

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OSHO - A REVOLUTIONARY WHO CHANGED THE WORLD

OSHO - A REVOLUTIONARY WHO CHANGED THE WORLD

The appearance of Acharya Rajneesh, popularly known as Osho, on the socio-philosophical scene of modern India signifies a very defining moment for Indian spirituality. He saw and presented religio-spiritual truths in a completely different light, which was not only totally new, but it also revolutionised the way people saw and practised spirituality in India and across the world.

Osho symbolizes a storm of change. He is the ultra modern, radical, new and revolutionary face of Indian spirituality. He is unparallel among the great saints and his philosophy presented a point of view which was unprecedented in spiritual history. Osho is man of the millenium, it was not without reason that the leading world magazine - TIME, considered him one of the greatest Indians of all times, comparable to Buddha and Gandhi.

Osho, unlike other philosophers, said desire was not wrong. He preached love for the body, as equally important and useful as love for the spirit. Osho was an iconoclast. He vehemently attacked organised religion, scriptures, dogmas and superstitions and established social norms like the existing views on sexuality. Osho, quite controversially, advocated the idea of free sex, but at the same time defined this freedom according to his propunded logic and wisdom. Osho preached against the institution of society, he said society and religion were created as instruments to sabotage and crush human individuality and freedom.

Osho’s wave was novel, partially controversial but at the same time very different type of wisdom. It tanscended all narrow boundaries and made life and beauty the centre piece of human existence. He taught that being one with nature brought about attainment of ultimate bliss. He was never a compromise. He was bold, frank and courageous. Osho preached the necessity of linking with one’s soul and the futilty of reading scriptures to attain knowledge and bliss.

Osho was neither an accident of nature, nor  was he a creation of historical circumstances. He was a need of his times, he was a requirement of the world. Osho was the first saint to have questioned the fundamental spiritual laws, he strongly denounced male dominance, Mahatma Gandhi, The role of nations, and other popular symbols of order and establishment. Osho effectively married spirituality with materialism, idealism with pragmatism. Osho did this not for convenience or popularity but rather he reached this conclusion after lot of spiritual churning. A self proclaimed enlightened person, Osho defined enlightenment differently, not conventionally.

Osho’s activities brought him in direct clash with the established political order of the day. He had uncomfortable and rather hostile relationship with the Indian government for a long period. He also had plans to set up a city in US, where men and women would live in completely nude condition, this step of his had infuriated the US government, and he was not permitted to set up such a city. Actually, his intention was to take human beings to pre-civilizational condition, so that they can judge for themselves the values, the ethics, and all social laws and redefine them accordingly in a new light and with a different perspective. It was his attempted experiment which was aborted as it did not go well with the existing social thinking of the times.

Osho, though largely used Hindu philosophy and spirituality, but was on the whole religion independent, as his preachings and discourses made use of other faith systems as well. He was mystical, devotional, meditative, analytical all in one. He believed that seed of enlightenment lies latent in each human being, which should be nurtured and developed. He said the worst disservice to the religious founders of the world has been done by their respective followers. Thus Buddhists have ditched Buddha, Hindus have devalued Krishna and Christians have destroyed the spirit of Jesus. This because the religious founders wanted people to develop, while their followers had tied them down to narrow, sectarian creed, thinking and made them slaves rather than free thinkers. Thus he exhorted that Hindus should not become Hindus, Buddhists should not become Buddhists and Christians should not become Jesus, rather they should become Krishna, Buddha and Jesus respectively.

Osho had outstanding oratory skiils, he had a highly magnetic personality and could mesmerize his audience very effectively. He spoke in Hindi and English and he had a huge following in India and across the world. Arguably, he was the most popular Indian spiritual saint of the 20th century.

Osho brought a new lease of life to the world. He was builder of the new man, the savior of the 20th century. He believed spirituality was not about renunciation, serious contemplation, hardcore discipline and abstinence. On the contrary it was about enjoyment – both physical and mental, complete involvement into ‘things of pleasure’ considered taboo by the conventional spirituality, about materialistic happiness. Osho taught to the world to see things not through established social norms rather as they actually are or the manner in which they should be seen. Indeed, he was a revolutionary spiritual saint, who gave a new dimension to things, which were never seen that way before.

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